Storm Art Damage Overwhelms Conservators in Wake of Sandy

A surge from Hurricane Sandy broke through the wall at 303 Gallery in Chelsea, flooding the gallery and damaging artworks. Owner Lisa Spellman quickly moved the art and her staff into an elevated space nearby where a makeshift conservation laboratory was set up. Photographer: Katya Kazakina/Bloomberg

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Long Island City facility of
Gloria Velandia Art Conservation has seen a steady arrival of
damaged artworks ever since Hurricane Sandy flooded Chelsea’s
art district in New York.

Casualties included pieces by Andy Warhol, James
Rosenquist, Lucio Fontana and Joel Shapiro, according to Chief
Financial Officer Steve Ludmer, whose company lists on its
website clients including major Chelsea galleries Pace, David
Zwirner, Gladstone and Gagosian.

“It’s been nonstop,” he said. “Over the weekend we’ve
assessed over 300 works of art.”

With basements and ground floor spaces filled with
contaminated water, art conservation has been the top priority
for galleries and artists.

Some dealers have set up on-site conservation laboratories.
About 200 people attended a free emergency panel on conserving
artworks damaged by flooding at the Museum of Modern Art last
weekend.

“I would say thousands of artworks were affected,” said
Christiane Fischer, president and chief executive officer of AXA
Art for the Americas, which insures inventory at galleries,
museums and private collections. “In its extent it’s completely
unprecedented.”

Donning Gumboots

Unable to reach clients by phone, Fischer and her staff made
a list of 300 critical locations in Chelsea and downtown
Manhattan. Donning gumboots, they set off in teams of two to
assess the situation.

“The losses are severe,” Fischer said, on a conference
call on Nov. 3. “First payments will be made as early as next
week, especially when it’s the case of total losses.”

After the flood left behind wet canvases and a giant hole
in the wall at 303 Gallery, owner Lisa Spellman quickly
converted an elevated space nearby into a temporary conservation
studio.

Preventing Mold

Her staff laid out drawings, prints and photographs on long
tables and turned on bright lamps, de-humidifiers and HEPA air
scrubbers to help dry the works and keep mold from spreading.

“Time is of essence,” said Spellman. “Conservators are
overwhelmed.”

Some works received by Gloria Velandia measured as large as
5-by-12 feet, but there were also 6-by-6-inch artworks of
“sentimental value,” said Ludmer.

“The water levels got so high that crates filled with
artworks were floating in the basements of the galleries,” he
said.

While valuable works are likely to get restored whenever
possible, pieces by lesser known artists could suffer.

“It’s sad because we know the work is restorable, but it’s
too expensive,” said Suzanne Siano, director of Modern Art
Conservation in Chelsea, whose fees range from $1,000 to
$100,000.

’Total Loss’

AXA’s Fischer said that if the cost of conserving the work
exceeds its market value “we’ll consider it a total loss.”

Art dealer Zach Feuer, who had 550 artworks damaged by
water in the flooding at his West 22nd Street gallery, is
working with three different art restorers because “everyone is
so backlogged,” he said.

He quickly moved the works to higher ground to dry and sent
out others for restoration including a couple of secondary-market pieces with prices in the mid-six figures.

“I wish I could restore it all,” he said. “But what do
you do with a $500 print?”